Monday, October 31, 2005 Happy Halloween. I was over at my friends' Dave and Nicole where we watched the end of Psycho and Poltergeist while the last few trick or treaters came by. Poltergeist freaked me out when I was a kid and I feared things coming out of the closet to steal me away. It's still pretty scary and I'm sure that has a lot to do with being so scared when I was young. I'm working on the Unwed Sailor layout for The White Ox and Circles. James Marsh did the cover images for both releases. He's done many album covers for Talk Talk over the years. Saxon Shore are still on tour and Unwed Sailor start their tour this week. Catch them both when they come to a city near you... :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 11:09 PM CST Saturday, October 29, 2005 My parents and I saw the Body Worlds exhibit on Friday at the Franklin Institute. It's basically many different views of human cadavers with certain aspects of their internal anatomy on display. It was very expensive to go, but ended up being very interesting. We also visited the mint and it was the first time I'd ever been. I have plane tickets to go to Chicago the weekend of 4 November to visit Jessica. We're also going to see Styrofoam and Saxon Shore play on different nights. I'm excited to see the Saxons play on this tour, things seem to be going well. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:57 PM CST Thursday, October 27, 2005 The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore moved to #72 on the CMJ top 200, the second week on the charts. Thanks to every station who is currently playing the album. Saxon Shore is still on tour for the next 3 weeks or so, be sure to see them play. They join up with Anathallo in early November to round out the rest of their dates. Johnathon is in Louisville to practice with the touring members of Unwed Sailor, featuring members of Parlour and an member of Elliott. They'll start touring in early November. My aunt, uncle, and cousin are visiting from San Diego and my parents just arrived from Indiana so it's a mini family reunion of sorts here until Sunday. I stayed up ridiculously late on Tuesday to watch until the 13th inning of the World Series game, just missing the White Sox rally in the top of the 14th to win. I managed to catch most of the game last night and watch the White Sox win. I was cheering for the Astros, especially since they seemed to be the big underdogs, but they just couldn't pull it out at all. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:50 PM CST Friday, October 21, 2005 I ended up not being able to go to Chicago yesterday and missed the New Pornographers and Destroyer and Gockley. There must be some serious traffic getting to Chicago for the World Series. I'm really sad for not being able to get there, but I'll be there for Thanksgiving. I haven't written a lot about baseball for fear of jinxing some of my teams. I had this glimmer of hope that Philadelphia would make it as the wild card, but Houston proved to be way more powerful. I was cheering them through the playoffs. I was also cheering the White Sox on because I was sick and tired of the Red Sox thing. They won already, it's time to move on to a new underdog. Now, it's the World Series I'd dreamed of, two underdog franchises battling it out. I think Houston is way scrappier which makes them dangerous. It's hard not to recognize that Chicago has the overall better team, but the World Series isn't only about that. I'm probably for the Astros since my loyalty is more with the National League. Ben came over later and I loaded up his ipod with a bunch of songs. I'm a big proponent of file sharing because it helps broaden musical tastes. If I become a fan of a band through listening to mp3s someone has given me, I will go out and buy the vinyl version and see the band live when I have a chance. I think file sharing is the great music democratizer because it allows bands to manuever the music world based on their sounds and not their hype or marketing campaigns. So, when Metallica makes the travesty known as St. Anger and everyone realizes how terrible it is through file sharing, no one buys the album. On the other hand, when blogs are posting audio files and encouraging people to listen to the Arcade Fire, it ends up being very successful for the band. btv bands fit into the equation because I'm hoping that there are music fans who will find the releases in any format and begin to support the various bands on the label. I have to believe that there are many more people interested in becoming fans of the band and label and need the word of mouth to help make that happen. So, anyhow, I was helping Ben out with like 1000 songs or something. He's having a showing of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure on Saturday and hoping to have a discussion after. Now this is one of my favorite movies, so we had a bit of a discussion about it. I think the movie's style, characters, and plot angle add up to one of the best movies of all time. Seriously. Simple things, like the choice of Mr. T cereal for breakfast in an early scene, are really incredible. Lucky Charms or Fruity Pebbles aren't nearly as funny, but just putting a box of Mr. T cereal on the table is funny. It's genius. Anyhow, thanks reading my rambling. If you're in Southern California, tonight is the big night for Saxon Shore in Hollywood with a Record Release show at the Knitting Factory, arguably one of the best venues ever. It's size and sound are impeccable and the room is way nicer than the original in NYC. After the show, get yourself to the Underground for the after-party with the band, Andy, and all of Andy's rocker and movie star friends. I'm really wishing I could be there. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:40 AM CST Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Saxon Shore's The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore is #95 on the CMJ top 200 this week, it's first week on the charts. Thanks to all of the college stations that are playing and charting their full-length. Today is the first day to buy The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore in your local record shop. Run out and buy it if you don't have it. Better yet, go see the band live and buy directly from them (they are touring like dogs and will appreciate it). Or you can buy directly from btv or insound. I finally have internet at my house again after an almost 2 week outtage. Life is hard without connectivity. Cerberus Shoal, Jack Rose, and Oni Gosun were all great last night. Extra props to Adam for being the man... :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 04:38 PM CST Monday, October 17, 2005 Tonight, I'm going to see Cerberus Shoal at Circle East (2007 Frankford above Cirlce Thrift) in Philadelphia. They're playing with Jack Rose and Oni Gosen. See you there. Props to Adam for setting up the show. The Destroyer set was incredible on Friday night. The played songs from both Thief and Streethawk, definitely some of the best Destroyer material. Dan ended up singing three songs with the New Pornographers. This time, Neko played with the band. She was absent when I saw them earlier in the year in Lancaster. I'm excited to see them again this week in Chicago. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 11:12 AM CST Friday, October 14, 2005 I just updated the btv online store with The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore and a few other titles. Go buy them all up!! Mikael and Hannah are on the Chinatown bus back to NYC. We had a bit of a party in their honor last night at Jenn, Emily, and Danae's house. I need to get myself back to Copenhagen soon. Tonight, Carrie, Mike, and I are going to see Destroyer and The New Pornographers. I'm excited, it's been far too long since I last saw Destroyer. Jessica and I are going to see the same show in Chicago in less than a week, I'm pretty excited. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 01:36 PM CST Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Saxon Shore was #6 most added for the CMJ top 200 this week. Thanks to all of the stations who are playing The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore. Be sure to see them when they come to an area near you. Lodewijk and Dorien arrived on Saturday in time for the blowout party in their honor. Jessica and I showed them around Philadelphia and then took them up to NYC for a long day of sightseeing, eating, and shopping. We exchanged our Dutch friends for Mikael and Hannah who arrived from Copenhagen on Monday night. After a brief trip through NYC, we came back to Philadelphia and spent another day wandering around. It's interesting, I met Lodewijk, Dorien, and Mikael on a tour through Europe back on 2000 and we've stayed in contact ever since. It's always wonderful to have European visitors. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 09:47 AM CST Friday, October 7, 2005 I have the final masters for Unwed Sailor's The White Ox and Circles. The vinyl will be getting mastered very soon with both being available as a set. Circles will be one-sided with an etching on the back, most likely. I also have the final master for June Panic's one-sided LP, as well as the complete artwork, so production for this is also underway. Jeremy is going to have some etching artwork to transcribe very soon. Jessica is arriving tonight from Chicago. Lodewijk and Dorien are driving down from Canada. They're visiting from Amsterdam and will be visiting Philadelphia and NYC. I've been getting the btv compound in order now that my housemate has moved out. The records are getting organized and much easier to find. I found the inserts, labels, and jackets for Unwed Sailor's The Faithful Anchor which will likely get repressed on vinyl shortly. I took the ragged carpet off the stairs last night, so things are really starting to look better. Come to the housewarming on Saturday night while all of the guests are in town... Mikael and Hannah are arriving from Copenhagen on Monday so we're all trucking up to NYC to pick them up. It's been far, far too long since I've met up with Mikael. He co-owns Washington Inc. and recorded the Mt. Eerie Live in Copenhagen audio. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:54 AM CST Wednesday, October 5, 2005 I've updated a few dates for the Saxon Shore tour. Be sure to catch them as they travel through Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida over the new few days. Thanks to Tom for this story about the monks of St. Sixtus and Westvleteren. I love the monks! :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 10:59 AM CST Tuesday, October 4, 2005 I've added/changes a few dates for the Unwed Sailor tour in November/December. Members of Parlour (Temporary Residence) will be the backup band for Johnathon during the tour. The White Ox full-length and Circles ep are done being mastered and should be ready for the factory once the final masters are approved. Lodewijk and Dorien are in Toronto and are getting ready to go to NYC soon with Rik and Aleke. Everyone will be at my house this weekend. Jessica is arriving from Chicago, too. Should be a full-house. It was exciting to watch the Phillies almost make the playoffs, but it was just not enough with the Astros on fire. I finished next to last in the btv league. My dad hated the rotisserie format and it was very confusing, Commissioner Stone. Notably, Jenn finished 2nd for the 2nd year in a row. We all secretly hate that. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 02:20 PM CST Monday, October 3, 2005 Props to Adam for booking a great Mt. Eerie/Thanksgiving/Tom Blood/Ramona Cordova show last night in Philadelphia. Props to Dan for letting it move to Kensington South Forum (he's got Casiotone for the Painfully Alone coming in October). Adam is having Cerberus Shoal in Philadelphia later in the month, too, at Circle East above Circle Thrift in Fishtown. Thanks to my good friend Emil for sending me his new Serena Maneesh album. They're opening for the Dandy Warhols in Europe for a few dates. By the way, Pitchfork gave the album an 8.6 and some mad props. It's import only for now. It's amazing, by the way. The Burnt Toast Vinyl compound is getting some organizing. My housemate has moved out, so the stacks of record stock will have more room to breathe. My cat seems a little troubled by the recent vacancy, but I think she'll come around, she's tough. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 02:04 PM CST [ Archives ]